Question

In 2008, my car was totaled. My mom and I were on the loan but I was paying it. I was upside down in the loan and even though I had purchased Gap insurance, it did not cover the entirety of the loan. I ended up owing the bank close to 3k after the insurance payment. I tried to make payment arrangements with them, but they refused. They wanted me to make the same monthly payment of $550 even after the car was gone. I refused to pay that and they refused to take anything lower. I've gotten letters from collection agencies in the past, but nothing came of them. I bought a car in July of 2014 and my first home in May of this year with no issues. I received a letter from a lawyer representing the actual dealership in my town asking for payment to the likes of 9k, I assume to cover the trade in I used when purchasing the car with them. And my mom is receiving letters from attorneys claiming they are trying to collect the debt from Wells Fargo, who was the lender for the totaled car - the same ones who wouldn't make payment arrangements back in 2008. My question is, how long do these debt collectors have to collect on this loan? I am in the State of Nevada and I have read that the statute of limitations in 6 years. Should I even open the door and contact them to make arrangements? Can they garnish my wages? I'm at a loss and really hate that my mom may be affected by this unfortunate situation.

It would be a huge mistake for you to contact them and especially make any arrangements with them. If the "Statute Of Limitations" (SOL) has expired for them to collect via the court system then legally you are off the hook. You didn't say if any accounts for this are on your credit reports, but if there is, then you should also keep in mind that the seven year reporting time has most likely run it's course on this account.

This is what you need to do: Contact a consumer law attorney that handles FDCPA cases. FDCPA stands for "fair debt collection practices act". You can google that and do some reading on it. Many FDCPA attorneys will not charge you anything up front and they will work on contingency. You most likely have grounds to sue the collector harassing you. I highly recommend the law firm of Kimmel & Silverman, but I don't think that they practice in Nevada, but you may want to visit their website anyway to learn more about this scenario. As far as finding an attorney in your state, Google is a great tool.

Don't delay on this as there is time restrictions for you to file a lawsuit. Don't contact the collection company or any other party involved in this. Keep records of everything (letters they sent you, time and dates of phone calls, pictures of caller id logs, etc.). Any more questions, feel free to ask.

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